Sadlier talks ahead of Euro challenge

It’s the morning of Friday the 11th of July, It’s a matter of hours since St. Patrick’s Athletic found out that it would be Valetta FC of Malta that they would face in the Europa League 2nd qualifying round 1st leg and again merely a matter of hours until Pat’s took to the field against Galway United in the League of Ireland Premier Division. The mid-summer transfer window is open and ready for business and a busy sounding CEO answers his phone.

One could be forgiven for assuming it was a bad time to do an interview but nothing could have been further from the truth. “Ah howya” replied the engaging and incredibly accommodating Richard Sadlier once the formal instructions had commenced.

Given the imminent nature of the Europa League home leg against the aforementioned Valetta FC it seemed like a reasonable place to start:

”We had this experience last year, you go into a draw and you’re trying to balance between profiting, getting as much money as you can from each round but giving a good opportunity football wise to progress to the next round. In this round our sole focus was in getting a team that we thought would represent a good opportunity to get past the round and in to the next round.”

Sadlier was realistic with regard what the encounter represented for the club’s balance sheet: “It isn’t a round where you make loads from TV revenue or a huge amount in ticket sales or merchandise because of the teams that are in at this level. There are very few teams, if any, at this level that will grab the attention of the Dublin public to come out in their droves and watch it.” This honesty was to be a feature throughout.

With regard to how this season’s domestic campaign has progressed, the former Millwall man was again open in his assessment and made no attempt to avoid any question he was asked: “It has been difficult, it has been stop-start and the injuries have been frustrating. Largely, it has been the way I would have expected it to go though.”

While many in his position would be crying from the roof tops about a late surge up the table and getting players back from injury to aid such a renaissance, Sadlier instead simply said: "We had a fair idea that we wouldn’t be challenging for the title. That’s for clubs who are prepared to spend money in a way that we are no longer prepared to do so.”

By no means is the once-capped Republic of Ireland international a doom and gloom merchant, he just chooses to be as open as he possibly can with the Pat’s supporters. Misleading people is not in his nature, a trait which dates back to his days as a player when the amount of “bullshit” he observed as a by-product of the game was never much to his liking.

Citing the advertisement campaign for his club’s pre-season friendly against Chelsea (A Chelsea side that he knew would be no stronger than their youth team), as an example of his black and white approach.

”People were saying to me ‘just advertise it that Chelsea are coming and the crowds will follow’ and I said ‘No, you can’t!’. You can’t hoodwink people into thinking they’re going to come down and watch (Frank) Lampard and (Didier) Drogba when we know it’s basically going to be the reserve team. So we just said it’s a Chelsea XI.”

Before adding: “There is a tremendous amount of bullshit in football right through every level and that will never change. That will never change at all but I think if you start coming out with statements that ‘We’re going to win the league’ or ‘We’re going to win the cup’ or ‘We’re going to dominate Europe’, when we know the reality is that we probably won’t be able to challenge consistently for the league title.............overall we knew our expectations would be greatly different from what they were last year and the previous season.”

Though it is not by choice that he no longer plays the game to make a living, he accepts that his job is now in an office and not on the pitch and leaves the footballing matters to the players and coaching staff.

“As a player I always had a degree of contempt towards the people who ran clubs and I think that runs through the majority of dressing rooms. You think of some fella sitting in a suit somewhere and you think 'What does he know about football?’.

“I know I have a background in football but it is no longer relevant to what I do here, my playing days aren’t relevant any more. I think out of respect, and I think for things to work correctly you give people their own departments to be in charge of and Jeff (Kenna) is in charge of the football side of things here.”

Naturally enough at this time of year, the transferring of players and the nature of transfer dealings was a subject that arose and was another area which Sadlier was capable of simplifying in a few short sentences: “If someone rings us and asks if a player is available I’ll say ‘Listen, he’s potentially available, but he’s on that amount of wages and being realistic he’s not going to go to you for anything less than that. If you can afford it by all means talk to him, if you can’t, don’t waste his time and don’t waste my time.’ ”

When it comes to the signing of players he is ever more concise: “There are no negotiations any more, there’s no bartering, there’s no bonuses or huge amount of bonus fees on offer. This is what you’ll get if you come to play for us. Give us an answer.”

Never let it be suggested that the Inchicore club’s chief negotiator lacks the patience required for such conversing however: “The time you spend behind a desk doesn’t really reflect the working time. Just as long as the phone is in my pocket, you’re generally on the go doing something.”

His skills in this area are evidenced by Tuesday’s capture of striker Declan O’Brien from Dundalk on loan until the end of the season.

Though Sadlier is evidently fully committed to his new life inside boardrooms rather than penalty boxes, there is something that tells you from speaking to him that in his heart he will always be "Richard Sadlier the footballer" and he has the opportunity to write the final chapter on his decorated, though unfulfilled, career over the coming weeks:

“We (Pat’s) have a charity game in the last week of July and I might do a little bit of running out in that and a week later my benefit game at Millwall has been arranged after six long years of trying to get that sorted. Millwall are playing Middlesbrough on the first of August at The Den and the plan there is I’m due to start the game and probably come off after five, eight or ten minutes.”

Humility suddenly jumps out as another word one would have to attach to the affable 30-year-old Dubliner when he openly talks about his apprehension for the day: “It will be one of the most nerve-wracking experiences I’ll have ever had walking on to a pitch. I know it will probably be the final time I walk on to a pitch, certainly the pitch at The Den.”

Being the CEO of St.Patrick’s Athletic football club, not to mention an accomplished print journalist and a popular television pundit, it is clear that there are many strings to Richard Sadlier’s bow, all of them, seemingly, eminently likeable but, it was as a player that he first made his name and in a couple of week’s time he will show his adoring Millwall fans, however briefly, just why it is to this day that he remains such a cult hero at the London club.